Torturous Tedium: When Boredom Strikes
by SqueamishSaurian
Summary: The Ruler of Arda gets bored. Will chaos ensue? Or will the boredom last forever?
1. Chapter 1 The Boredom of Manwë

Chapter 1 The Boredom of Manwë  
  
Manwë was bored. As he sat upon Taniquetil, looking out across Arda, he realized that his fulfillment was at its greatest. How dull it is, he thought, to have a job that can never be complete and yet be as near to completion as possible.  
  
The last big threat, Sauron, had been banished and Middle Earth seemed to be in a state of healing and reconstruction. Manwë considered this to be the peak because while not all was healed, everyone had a job, a goal, a purpose. Everyone had something to purify or rebuild and they all knew the times to come would only get better. That was when lives were lived to their fullest.  
  
He sighed, glancing over at his lovely wife, Varda. He could see the almost joyful sadness in her beautiful eyes as well. A thought graced his mind and he rose suddenly, quickly mentioning he had to be somewhere and ignoring her expression of surprise and alarm. As he exited the halls of Oiolossë, he made his way to the Houses of the Dead.  
  
"Hello Vairë," Manwë said. She was hanging another tapestry of time across the right wall. "Is Námo in?"  
  
"Hmph," she replied, "Of course he's in. And moping around, too. He must be pondering some plight of the past or future. Sometimes I really think he should be put to better work." She turned and went back to hanging the tapestry. "You'll find him just down the hall there. He made the lighting darker and lit some candles to emphasize his brooding mood. Oy!"  
  
Manwë made his way down the hall which ended in a shadowy nook that was eerily lit. He could scarcely make out his colleague's outline.  
  
"Manwë! What a surprise! Would you like a drink? I think I've had a bit too much myself. Must be what uprooted this mood," he said, emerging from the shadows and looking rather grim. "Or perhaps it was the mood that brought about the drinking! Goodness gracious, I can't quite remember…"  
  
Manwë coughed. "It's only hours after dawn. Should you be drinking? And besides, I didn't know worldly things could affect us," he said, his brow gathering.  
  
"Eh, who cares? And trust me, if it's good enough, it'll have an effect. This is some good stuff. I ought to give you some."   
  
Manwë rolled his eyes and laughed. "Always for the effect, Námo, always. But I sure could use some. Varda is about as stiff as a board these days. She's trying to hold on to the regality of the position, but I say screw it. No one's there to watch anyways. She needs to loosen up and stop being so anal about the details. We all need to live a little."  
  
"You know what? You're absolutely right," Námo said, throwing his glass of wine on the floor as the lights suddenly popped back on and the candles blew out by themselves. "And try telling that to Vairë. I'd swear she was an old human woman with her complaining and nagging. Always nagging."  
  
Just then a wail could be heard through the walls. It was long and sounded like someone was about to die. Vairë came jogging to the end of the hall and slammed her fist a few times on the left wall.  
  
"Hey! Shut up in there, you hear me?! You're already dead. Don't think your griping will change anything!" She turned around and smiled at Manwë apologetically. "It comes with the real estate I'm afraid. Which I'm also afraid came with this loon," she said, jerking her thumb towards the Doomsman. Then, she scuttled off in the direction she came to complete her task.  
  
"Anyways," Manwë said, "I came to ask you something."  
  
"Yeah, what?" he said, still gazing after his wife and shaking his head.  
  
"Middle Earth is settling down and this place is just as boring as it has ever been. What do you say to a little fun? You know, stir things up a bit."  
  
Mandos looked at Manwë and a smirk crossed his lips. "You know what? That sounds absolutely fabulous."  
  
Next chapter: Mandos and Manwë gather other Valar and Valier to "stir things up" and what does Manwë have in mind to end the boredom? Will Mandos say "fabulous" again? Oh, please, no! 


	2. Chaper 2 More Meetings

Chapter 2 More Meetings   
  
Manwë had suggested to bring Nienna, Námo's sister, along with them. Námo had been somewhat reluctant, but eventually gave in. Nienna was staying in Mandos for the time being. In fact, she often came there and lived with the dead. When Námo and Manwë found her, she was sitting on the floor with her back facing them in one of the many halls off the great one that the dead dwelt in.  
  
They could hear her quiet sobs that shook her whole body and Námo began to regret agreeing to bring her with them. As she heard them approaching, Nienna turned to face them. The first thing one would notice about Nienna would probably be her… large "assets." Suddenly Námo realized why Manwë had been so eager to take her along. As he glared scornfully at Manwë, Nienna came bounding toward them, tears falling behind her.  
  
"Like, oh my goodness, you guys!" she said through sobs as she had always spoken. "I'm so sorry!" She gave each of them a big hug and within moments Manwë was rendered a bumbling idiot.  
  
Námo sighed as he was already beginning to lose patience with his sister, though he still felt obliged to keep her from harm. "What are you sorry for?"  
  
"For… For, like, everything! It's all so sad. You know, the world and stuff."  
  
"And… stuff…," Manwë repeated. "You know what? You're absolutely right. It is really sad."  
  
"What is really sad?! You're using a pronoun without specifying what the noun is!" Námo said, getting frustrated with the sheer stupidity of the conversation.  
  
"Well, duh, brother. Don't you, like, think it's obvious?" she said through a sniff. "You're so, like, naïve. But I'll cry for you."  
  
Námo rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go."  
  
"Go where?" Nienna asked.  
  
Manwë, suddenly glad he could be of assistance to Nienna, replied eagerly, "We've decided that life is too boring around here. We're going to find something that will end the monotonous times."  
  
Nienna began to wail. "It sounds like so much fun that, like, I feel bad for all the others who won't, like, get to have fun!"  
  
"Then come with us," said Manwë.  
  
"Oh, like, I sure will!" she said with tears streaming down her face.  
  
The now threesome set off, this time actually leaving Mandos. They began to head towards the dwelling of Aulë and Yavanna.  
  
"Like, where are we going?" asked Nienna.  
  
"To ask if Aulë and Yavanna would like to partake in our activities," Manwë replied.  
  
"Oh they are so cool. It makes want to cry." And she did.  
  
Yavanna was working in the yard, cultivating mass amounts of pansies, when they arrived. "Hello," she said, "What have you all come here for?"  
  
"We have something to ask of you and Aulë," Manwë said, looking at Námo, who had suddenly taken on a humorous expression as he began to laugh. Manwë, Yavanna, Nienna all gave him an odd look, Yavanna through her pansies and Nienna through her tears.  
  
Námo, seeing that they were all looking at him, coughed and stopped laughing. "What? You know how when you remember something funny… And then you start laughing and…" His futile attempt to explain was silenced by Yavanna's stern stare.  
  
"Right then. Shall we go inside?"  
  
They entered what was the side of a very large mountain in a line, Manwë following Yavanna and Nienna after him. Námo entered last, still believing that his outburst made perfect sense. After all, no one else knew everything, right?  
  
Yavanna lead the procession into Aulë's study, which was really a cold room with a high ceiling and a large desk where he could work with things of the earth. At the time they entered, Aulë was melding something that they couldn't see. His mind was taken off his work and he looked up, though he didn't smile. His face had been made grim by all his years of working in and with the earth.  
  
"Well, Aulë, aren't you going to welcome our guests?" Yavanna suggested, smiling at the other three. She was an upbeat person in contrast to her somber husband.  
  
"You already have, haven't you?"  
  
"Well, yes…"  
  
"Then, there's no need for me to do so."  
  
Yavanna sighed. "Aren't you even curious as to what they want?"  
  
"Sure. What do you want?" Aulë asked Manwë as Yavanna rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well, don't you think life is becoming tiresome?" Manwë asked, trying to get Aulë interested.  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay… Well, I have set out to do something that will liven things up. We came to ask you two to join us, but if you don't feel it wouldn't be necessary, then we'll take our leave."  
  
"Don't leave," Yavanna said. "Aulë, you are entertained by you're boring work here and I often wonder how, unless you're doing something else alone," she said accusingly. Aulë looked extremely embarrassed and cross with his wife.  
  
"I do nothing but work! It's all extremely important."  
  
"That depends what you consider work and what you value as important," Námo mumbled under his breath.  
  
Yavanna looked at her spouse, putting a cute face on. "So that decides it. Aulë and I will come," she said with a big smile.  
  
"What?!" her husband said, "I never said such a thing…"  
  
He was cut short by a hand of Yavanna's placed over his mouth. "I have control over your happiness each night, Aulë," she whispered in his ear teasingly and then turned to face her guests. "So what did you have in mind Manwë?" she asked.  
  
"All will be known in due time," he replied with a smile.  
  
Meanwhile, back in Taniquetil, Varda had watched where her husband had gone and she began to make her way toward Mandos herself, following in his path.  
  
Next chapter: Will any more Valar or Valier join the group? What does Manwë have in mind? And what is Varda up to? Has the word fabulous left Námo's vocabulary forever?! 


End file.
